Andy Murray celebrated a huge milestone today, and there was no better way than to win the 1000th career match he played.
Playing his 1000th career match in Queen’s is rather fitting for Murray because he has a tremendous legacy at the event. He won the event 5 times in singles and once in doubles, which is one of the best legacies any player left at the event.
Returning there in 2024 is amazing, and winning a match is even better. Just the fact that it was his 1000th career match makes it all the more special. So how did he do it? Well, he faced Alexei Popyrin, a very solid player who knows how to play on grass. The Australian is powerful and can move pretty well around the court, which makes him dangerous.
Murray weathered that storm easily in the opening set, winning 6-3. It was a pretty impressive play. He served well and just played well during the rallies, totalling 9 winners and only 1 unforced error. He didn’t face a single break point, and it was just the best tennis we’d seen from him in a while.
The second set was a comeback set from Popyrin, who was unplayable in that set. He was hitting his serves at an incredible level and barely lost any points on serve because he had 13 winners and only 1 unforced error. Murray didn’t play as sharply in that one, but he wasn’t bad by any means.
The final set was exactly what Murray needed. He opened it with an early break that immediately cut Popyrin’s momentum. He used the Aussie’s pretty poor serving early to jump out ahead and never looked back. The final score was 6-3 3-6 6-3 for the Brit, who might be enjoying his final weeks on Tour. He recently confirmed that Wimbledon might be his last event.